


Misunderstood

by Madam_Tender_Sigh



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Comforting, Death, Drinking, Gen, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 05:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15812328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madam_Tender_Sigh/pseuds/Madam_Tender_Sigh
Summary: Stardew Valley's one and only drunk Shane stars here. What happened in his past to get him to want to lose himself in beer? Why does he prefer to be under the influence of alcohol? Where did it all start? Many people seem to make fun of Shane when they play the game and have quite a few names to call him. However, this is my version of why Shane is the way he is. Maybe, just maybe, after reading this, you may have a different view of the young man.  Then again, maybe not.





	Misunderstood

**Author's Note:**

> This is a pure fanfic, I do not own the story or the characters.

Sitting at a table in Stardrop Saloon, Shane stares into the liquor in his mug. This was his third or fourth drink of the evening, although he couldn't honestly answer how many he has had by now if they asked him. Already feeling the effects of the brew, he sits there in silence all alone. Others from Stardew Valley were mingling around and enjoying their time not far away from him. In the other room, he could hear Sebastian tease his best friend, Sam while they played pool. If he took the time to look up from his drink and see what the others were doing on this Friday evening at his favorite hangout, he would see Clint trying to muster up the courage to ask Emily out for a date, and even see Sebastian's mother dancing with his step-father. 

Lost in his own thoughts, Shane notices none of it and could care less who was around him as long as they left him alone. He was good at pushing people away with his barbed tongue.  This was a good reason why he had so few friends. Back home, his goddaughter, Jas, would be getting ready for bed. It was his job to tuck her in and to take care of here, yet these days, he was often at work and busy or just plain drunk. How bad was his drinking problem? Bad enough that some nights he didn't make home. Although it doesn't happen often, he has been known to pass out on his way home or near the lake that he likes to hang out and contemplate the worthlessness of his life.

He hadn't always been this way.  The fact he has a goddaughter was proof of that.

Heaving a deep sigh of grief mixed with remorse, Shane lifts his mug of beer up to his parched lips and takes a deep drag of the liquor. Eyes closed, he gulps half of the glass's contents down before replacing the mug on the table once more.  Long thick lashes fan out beautifully along his pale skin as he continues to keep his eyes closed.  Memories of the past soon sink into his mind, running subconsciously and playing around before they come spilling out in his conscious mind. Memories he has done his best to keep at bay for so long a the bottom of so many mugs of ale.

_(A few years into the past)_

_Shane sat on a comfy rich brown couch holding a beautiful giggling Jas.  He made funny faces at her that kept her laughter bubbling out. One of the things he loved to hear the most was the sound of the little girl's happy laughter. It filled his heart to overflowing. The fact that he was the one who could make her laugh the most warmed him to the core. Although she wasn't his daughter, he loved her as if she were. When he chatted to her, he called himself her uncle Shane on many occasions. The first word she had ever spoken to him when she was a small little lass was "Uncle!" That had made his day._

_While he sat on the couch with Jas on his lap, they played games and he told her stories; funny stories about her mom. That night she fell asleep on his lap, her little soft cheek nestled against his chest with an arm crossed over it.  He was relaxed that evening, he recalled. The warmth of the child sleeping on him always made him feel wanted, accepted, and needed.  Her mother knew this._

_Jas's mother and he were the best of friends. He had, in fact, stood up as best man at her wedding.  A bit of jealousy still rubbed his nerves raw when he thought about the day she had married her husband.  When they were growing up, living next door to one another, he had always envisioned her marrying him when they were older.  Fate, it would seem, loved to play mind games on him and leave him with the short end of the stick.  Yet, he coped.  When Jas had been born, he had been in the waiting room pacing the hallway to and fro for hours.  When the baby was born, it was Jas's father who came out of the delivery room, holding a still screaming Jas. The red-faced baby cried and cried until she was handed over to Shane to hold.  The first time he had tremblingly held her against his chest, nuzzling into her still damp hair, he had lost his heart once again to the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, this time being the daughter of the woman he still held deep feelings for but kept them to himself.  Jas, all new and squirmy quickly settled against his chest as he held her, rubbing her back while softly humming a song near her ear. She had calmed down quickly, accepting Shane instantly. Since that day, they had formed a close bond and any chance he got, he watched the baby himself. Jas's mother knew she could always count on Shane to take the best care of her baby, as if Jas had been his own._

_Jas's birth always made him feel special.  Even now as he sat there holding the peaceful sleeping goddaughter, he felt guilty.  When Jas's parents' had left for their date that afternoon, Shane had said something that had made both of her parents' angry with him.  He felt bad now as he relived the scene. Plain as day he could see Jas's mother's angry face glaring at him. Even when angry she was so beautiful. With a deep sigh, he opened his eyes and gazed at the ceiling. Shane would apologize to the couple when they returned home._

_The clock struck the hour loudly, bringing Shane out of his thoughts... or perhaps he had actually fallen asleep. It was possible. Blinking at the clock in the dim light of the living room, he saw that it was midnight.  His best friend was suppose to have been home by ten that night. It was unlike her and her husband to be five minutes late much less two hours! Alarm bells rang in the back of his mind._

_Glancing at the top of Jas's dark hair, he frowned. He should have had her in bed two hours ago before her parents were due back and yet something kept him from putting her in her own bed.  It was a dark feeling that came over him. A type of dread._

_When one o'clock came around, he stood up, still holding the little girl and paced. After a time, he took his phone out and dialed his friend's number. It range four times before a strange voice answered. "Hello?"_

_The strange voice was masculine but not Jas's father. That dreaded feeling intensified even further. "Hey.  Where's Clair? This is her number ... right?"_

_There was a long pause on the other end before the gruff voice cleared his throat before answering. "Yes, this is her number. Who am I speaking to?"_

_Shane's eyes narrowed. He was in no mood for games. Why didn't the stranger just tell him who he was and put Clair on the phone? More than a little bit of anger edged his tone, "I'm Shane. I'm Clair's best friend. Put her on, okay? I need to ask her..."_

_Before he could finish his sentence, the other man's voice cut him off. "I'm sorry. She is unable to speak to you.  There has been an accident."_

_The man rattled on but those fateful words echoed in his mind over and over and over...'There has been an accident....' Shaking his head, he listened to the words being spoken to him once more._

_" . . . she is unconscious still. It doesn't look good for her and her husband was dead on arrival. I'm sorry to have to give you such grievous news."_

_Stunned, Shane actually took the phone from his ear and stared at it, mouth agape, eyes wide in disbelief. Hearing the other's voice, he brought the phone to his ear to listen, his voice still lost to him._

_"She is at Lincoln Hills Hospital. Do you need the directions?"_

_Shane shook his head in answer before he cleared his throat, "N-no. No, I know how to get there. I'm... I'm on my way."_

_When the call disconnected, he realized he had forgotten to ask the man's name. It didn't matter, he supposed. Still feeling dumbfounded, he wrapped the sleeping Jas up in a blanket best he could without waking her then headed out to the car, fastened her into her child's seat then, got in and headed to the hospital._

_(Two days later.)_

_In the hospital, Shane sat beside Clair's bed, her hand clasped between both of his. It felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest. Tears glistened on the tips of his lashes before slowly spilling down his cheeks unheeded. His best friend from childhood lay in her hospital bed, a breathing tube down her throat, the noises of her heart monitor beeping away steadily even as her heartbeat began to slowly become more and more faint._

_Lifting Clair's hand to his lips, he brushed his dry lips tenderly over each of her knuckles. His blurry vision swimming over the unconscious woman's face which was still beautiful and un-ravaged from the wreck. The news he had been given only ten minutes before had broken his heart. Never would he have the opportunity to tell her he was sorry for the little spat they had had a few days ago.  Those ill spoken words would forever be the last words they would ever speak to one another.  Those fated angry words exchanged in the heat of the moment.  He knew she loved him as only she could just as she had known he loved her. After all, they were best friends. To him, she was more than his lifelong best friend, she was almost his everything along with her daughter, Jas. The two of them had been his inspiration and his reason to live. Now, as he sat there crying silently, he was about to lose her ... forever._

_"I-I love you so much, Clair," his whispered voice rasped. "I have been in love with you forever, ever since we were three years old. It's so unfair! You... you can't leave me and Jas. We need you."_

_Clair's lashes fluttered and for a brief moment he got to see her beautiful eyes once last time. She tried to speak, only able to make the briefest of guttural sounds before her eyes closed once more.  If he hadn't been daydreaming, he had felt her fingers ever so slightly try to squeeze his hand. And then she took in a deep breath. It seemed like an eternity before her last breath exited her body, death claiming her for all eternity._

_Shane blinked and spoke her name in a deep croak but there was nothing left in the woman, she was dead. Her heart monitor seemed to scream out one loud, ear-piercing, non-stop noise for the longest time before the nurse finally came in and turned it off. Shane's best friend had just left him, never to utter his name again, never to give him her most special of smiles. She was gone to him forever.  Leaving Jas, her only child, in his care._

(Present day)

Shane blinks his eyes rapidly as he comes back to the future. For him, the past was always a rough and painful place to visit, even for a few short minutes. Glancing at the clock, he pushes his drink further away from himself and rises to his feet. The chair grates against the wooden floor boards as he stands, drawing a few looks his way. Yet, the music plays on and the talking never halts. 

Seeing Shane standing up from the table, Emily walks over to him. Light as a feather she places a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Everything alright?"

"Sure, Em," Shane replies with a weak smile. Unbeknown to him, his face was pale. The look on Emily's face told him she didn't believe him but, being the good friend she is, she didn't press him and for that he was very thankful. No one in town other than his aunt and Jas knew of his past and how it came about he had custody of the girl. It is something he plans to keep just as it is. If people knew too much about his personal life, they might decide he wasn't a bad guy after all. Friends was something he couldn't afford. The more people you liked, the better the chance you would be hurt. He had had enough to go to totally wrong in his life. He didn't need to get attached to more people. Loosing friends was just too much for him to bear.

Rolling his shoulders to ease the stress, Shane heads for the door and walks out without another word to anyone. Jas was at home and it had been all too long since he had last tucked her in bed. It was past time for him to be the father she deserved, especially since fate had taken her little life in its grasp and took her own father away from her the same time as it took her mother. These were memories best left in the past where they belonged.


End file.
